Monday, December 25, 2006

Bracketology 101's Field of 65 - Dec. 26

The Breakdown
After making this list (and checking it more than twice) here is our post-holiday Field of 65. This week's bracket was the toughest yet this season to fill. All of the 11 seeds from last week's bracket are gone, as are Virginia and Xavier. Kansas State, fueled by the debut and solid play thus far of Bill Walker, makes its bracket debut this week, as do Texas Tech (playing well as Bobby Knight chases history), New Mexico State (replacing Fresno State as the second team from the WAC), and Drexel (a winner over Syracuse this past week). Kentucky and Georgia Tech also return to the bracket after brief absences.

Here is Bracketology 101's Field of 65 for Dec. 26:

Out This Week
Virginia, Xavier, Michigan, Missouri, Georgia, Fresno State, Holy Cross, Davidson

In This Week
Kentucky, Texas Tech, Drexel, Kansas State, Georgia Tech, New Mexico State, Bucknell, Appalachian State

Last Four In
Kansas State, Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, Drexel

Last Four Out
Stanford, Georgia, Michigan, Virginia Tech

Conference Breakdown
ACC (7), Big XII (6), Big East (6), Big Ten (5), SEC (5), Pac-10 (5), MVC (4), MWC (2), WAC (2), Colonial (2)

America East - Albany

ACC - North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Maryland, Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech

Atlantic Sun - Lipscomb

A-10 - Dayton

Big East - Pittsburgh, UConn, Notre Dame, Marquette, Georgetown, Syracuse

Big Sky - Portland State

Big South - Winthrop

Big Ten - Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan State, Purdue, Illinois

Big 12 - Oklahoma State, Kansas, Texas A&M, Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas State

Big West - UC-Santa Barbara

Colonial - Old Dominion, Drexel

C-USA - Memphis

Horizon - Butler

Ivy - Penn

Metro Atlantic - Marist

MAC - Akron

MCC - Southern Utah

MEAC - Howard

MVC - Wichita State, Southern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Missouri State

MWC - Air Force, UNLV

Northeast - Sacred Heart

Ohio Valley - Eastern Kentucky

Pac-10 - UCLA, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Washington State

Patriot - Bucknell

SEC - Florida, Alabama, LSU, Tennessee, Kentucky

Southern - Appalachian State

Southland - SE Louisiana

SWAC - Alabama A&M

Sun Belt - Western Kentucky

WAC - Nevada, New Mexico State

WCC - Gonzaga

The Seeds

The 1s
UCLA, North Carolina, Florida, Wisconsin

The 2s
Ohio State, Duke, Arizona, Pittsburgh

The 3s
Kansas, UConn, Alabama, Washington

The 4s
Wichita State, Texas A&M, Oregon, Oklahoma State

The 5s
LSU, Notre Dame, Gonzaga, Tennessee

The 6s
Air Force, Memphis, Texas, Marquette

The 7s
Michigan State, Nevada, Clemson, Butler

The 8s
Georgetown, Purdue, Washington State, Maryland

The 9s
Southern Illinois, Kentucky, Boston College, Syracuse

The 10s
UNLV, Northern Iowa, Illinois, Florida State

The 11s
Dayton, Missouri State, Texas Tech, Drexel

The 12s
Kansas State, New Mexico State, Georgia Tech, Old Dominion

The 13s
Winthrop, Western Kentucky, Akron, Southern Utah

The 14s
Bucknell, Penn, Appalachian State, Marist

The 15s
Albany, Sacred Heart, Portland State, UC-Santa Barbara

The 16s
Lipscomb, Eastern Kentucky, SE Louisiana, Howard (Play-In Game), Alabama A&M (Play-In Game)

The Bracket
This Week's Bracket - Dec. 26

Questions? Comments? E-mail Bracketology 101 at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com

6 comments:

Paymon said...

How does Texas A&M (RPI:61; Pomeroy:6) merit a 4 seed?

They've played 3 RPI top-100 teams (1-2), the only win coming against St. Louis.

Anonymous said...

Drew Barnette has made several mistakes in his recent Bracket Express projections. He has Texas Tech & Kansas in the same pod so they could play in the 2nd round already. 2 weeks ago he had Georgia Tech listed twice in the same bracket.

Bracketology 101 said...

Paymon,

You make a very valid argument about the Aggies. Their current seeding, admittedly, is more of a projection at this point than anything else. They, like UConn, are high seeds not because they have many impressive wins, but because they have no glaring losses. A&M has lost twice, but both are very "good" ones (especially their narrow defeat to UCLA), and they surely have the talent to be one of the top 16 teams in the bracket at season's end.

That said, with a strong group of five seeds behind them, A&M better keep winning if they want to remain at a 4. One of the five seeds, Gonzaga, has a chance to pick up another quality win Saturday against Nevada.

Anonymous said...

I would say a 4seed is perfect for Texas A&M. You forget to mention that both Aggie big games were on the road.

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season. My things have changed fast for Wichita State & Gonzaga. UNLV got a nice sweep in the state of Texas before conference play. Do you guys think the Mountain West has any chance of getting more than 3 teams in this year?

FFXI GIL said...

How does Texas A&M (RPI:61; Pomeroy:6) merit a 4 seed?

They've played 3 RPI top-100 teams (1-2), the only win coming against St. Louis.
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